The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of apple tree, botanically known as Malus domestica Mill. of the Family Rosaceae, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘Gaia’.
The new Malus variety is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventors, Michelangelo Leis, Alessio Martinelli, Gianfranco Castagnoli and Francesco Tagliani in S. Giuseppe di Comacchio (Ferrara), Italy. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Malus varieties with improved production characteristics, high-quality flavour and aroma, and sustainability by increasing the tree's natural resistance. The primary objective of the research programme is to selection new apple varieties with natural resistances, in particular to scab.
The new Malus variety, ‘Gaia’, originated from a cross made in a planned, controlled breeding program in S. Giuseppe di Comacchio (Ferrara), Italy. The female parent is ‘Gala’ variety (unpatented). The male parent is an unpatented proprietary selection denominated ‘A3-7’. ‘Gaia’ was discovered and selected in August 2004 by the inventors as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in S. Giuseppe di Comacchio (Ferrara), Italy.
Asexual reproduction of the new Malus variety by budding and grafting was first performed in September 2004 and in the following years in S. Giuseppe di Comacchio (Ferrara), Italy, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new Malus variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.